Comments

NBA Picks

A Second Blowout Is Unlikely As Cavs Travel To Take On Twolves

Just a couple of weeks ago Minnesota visited Cleveland and got throttled by LeBron James and Co. Surprisingly with Cleveland coming to visit Minnesota oddsmakers have made the Cavaliers just a small favorite. Can Minnesota get some revenge and pull off the upset?

Cleveland Cavaliers

Since going through a bit of a rough stretch Cleveland has won seven of their last 10 games and again look primed to make a strong second-half run towards the playoffs. In their first matchup versus Minnesota they were lights out shooting 54% overall and over 40% from distance as well as only turning the ball over 10 times.

Despite that good showing, there are still some things that concern me about Cleveland on the defensive side of the ball because they allow 106 points per game with opponent shooting 45.5% from the floor both which rank them right in the middle the league. As well, because of their tempo, they are allowing opponents to garner over 40 field goals made per game which ranks them a stunning 26th in the league. Offensively they have solid numbers across the board but in this matchup, this number by oddsmakers really gets my radar up as it looks too small at first glance. With the way, they play defense don’t expect them to blow out Minnesota again.

Minnesota Timberwolves

Head coach Tom Thibodeau has a solid core of talent although this team has struggled the past couple of weeks. Overall this is a decent Minnesota team that shoots 46.4% from the floor and rank right in the middle of the league in both shooting efficiency and effective field goal percentage. Defensively, the numbers are pretty poor statistically however they only allow opponents to get up 82.6 attempts per game which rank them fifth in the NBA.

Minnesota has been good in limiting transition and assists and they are also one of the better defensive rebounding teams in the league. This is a pretty good spot for them to play Cleveland really tough and I actually like some of the matchups they have going against the Cavaliers. Most importantly for me, though is again is this number which seems a bit off.

Oddsmakers are made Minnesota +3.5 underdog across the board and for my NBA pick I will take the Timberwolves in this spot. Cleveland shot lights out against them last time at home but don’t expect them to repeat that type of performance here on the road. Plus with All-Star Kevin Love sidelined for the Cavs against his former team, don’t be shocked if the Timberwolves pull off the upset.